Ha Ha Tonka

Ha Ha Tonka is an Osage Indian name for a region of rugged scenic beauty in the Missouri Ozarks and the site of a European-style mansion known as Ha Ha Tonka Castle.

In 1905, a self-made, prominent Kansas City businessman, Robert McClure Snyder, began construction of his dream home atop a 250-foot cliff overlooking Big Spring, a natural spring in the south-central Missouri Ozarks, just outside of Camdenton. This region is known as Ha Ha Tonka, or Hahatonka, and is most often translated as the “Land of the Laughing Water” because of the sound the water makes at the base of the cliff.

This is the view of the water tower as seen from the visitors parking lot at Ha Ha Tonka State Park.

Natural spring water would be pumped up to the water tower, where it was stored, and then gravity fed to the castle. A family would live in the lower half of the tower.

These two structures were either side of the stable gate house.

All  of the stone used for construction came from a rock quarry at the base of the hill from where the castle.

One year after Robert McClure Snyder, Sr. started building the castle, he was killed in a car accident, but his family completed the castle, which was later destroyed by fire.

One of the hikes we took at Ha Ha Tonka, was to see the Natural Bridge.

This was the post office for Ha Ha Tonka.

This is an old millstone left from a mill that operated using the natural spring water.

A beautiful trail hike to see the origin of the natural spring water source for Ha Ha Tonka.

Do you see the water snake?

The old electric pump used to pump the natural spring water to the water tower at Ha Ha Tonka.

These steps led to a parking area at the top of the natural spring cliff. This is an alternate route to visit the spring. We choose the lower, and easier path without steps.

Sharing old photos.

First, let me introduce my older daughter, Suzanne. She likes animals, including snakes, coloring her hair, piercings, tattoos, and Harry Potter.

This is Suzanne's snake, Banana.

This is our guinea pig, Moe.

And now, this is my younger daughter, Destiny. She is twelve years younger than her sister. She likes 'Frozen', animals, watching cartoons, and playing.

This is her school, Victory Christian School, which is only a ten minute walk from home.

This photo was taken just after Destiny was baptized.

This was in Little Rock just before Chinese Spring Festival 2018.

It was very cold to go see the lanterns and performers.

This is an old car we saw in a parking lot going into Walmart.

We were at Mid America Museum in Hot Springs.

Just before baptism.

Halloween 2015 at the nearby White Oak Lake State Park.

This is a little water park our town put in for the kids to have fun during the summer.

This is from Destiny's eighth birthday part.

This is at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.

They have a real submarine, the U.S.S. Razorback, which you can go in. You can see a video tour here.

It was the longest serving submarine in the world, serving for 26 years in the United States Navy, starting in 1944, followed by another 31 years in the Turkish Navy.

This was our 2017 Christmas tree.

My little girl's bed.

I chop about ten different vegetables to make a large salad. The salad is seasoned, and I will have a little salad dressing on it for my lunch, and sometimes dinner each day. I keep the salad refrigerated, and it will usually last all week.